sp_changemergearticle (Transact-SQL)

Applies to: SQL Server

Changes the properties of a merge article. This stored procedure is executed at the Publisher on the publication database.

Transact-SQL syntax conventions

Syntax

sp_changemergearticle
    [ @publication = ] N'publication'
    , [ @article = ] N'article'
    [ , [ @property = ] N'property' ]
    [ , [ @value = ] N'value' ]
    [ , [ @force_invalidate_snapshot = ] force_invalidate_snapshot ]
    [ , [ @force_reinit_subscription = ] force_reinit_subscription ]
[ ; ]

Arguments

[ @publication = ] N'publication'

The name of the publication in which the article exists. @publication is sysname, with no default.

[ @article = ] N'article'

The name of the article to change. @article is sysname, with no default.

[ @property = ] N'property'

The property to change for the given article and publication. @property is sysname, and can be one of the values listed in the following table.

[ @value = ] N'value'

The new value for the specified property. @value is nvarchar(2000), and can be one of the values listed in the following table.

This table describes the properties of articles and the values for those properties.

Property	Values	Description
allow_interactive_resolver	true	Enables the use of an interactive resolver for the article.
	false	Disables the use of an interactive resolver for the article.
article_resolver		Custom resolver for the article. Applies only to a table article.
check_permissions (bitmap)	0x00	Table-level permissions aren't checked.
	0x10	Table-level permissions are checked at the Publisher before INSERT statements made at the Subscriber are applied at the Publisher.
	0x20	Table-level permissions are checked at the Publisher before UPDATE statements made at the Subscriber are applied at the Publisher.
	0x40	Table-level permissions are checked at the Publisher before DELETE statements at the Subscriber are applied at the Publisher.
column_tracking	true	Turns on column level tracking. Applies only to a table article. Note: Column level tracking can't be used when publishing tables with more than 246 columns.
	false	Turns off column level tracking and leaves conflict detection at the row level. Applies only to a table article.
compensate_for_errors	true	Compensating actions are performed when errors occur during synchronization. For more information, see sp_addmergearticle.
	false	Compensating actions aren't performed, which is the default behavior. For more information, see sp_addmergearticle. Important: Although data in the affected rows might appear to be out of convergence, as soon as you address any errors, changes can be applied, and data converges. If the source table for an article is already published in another publication, then the value of compensate_for_errors must be the same for both articles.
creation_script		Path and name of an optional article schema script used to create the article in the subscription database.
delete_tracking	true	DELETE statements are replicated, which is the default behavior.
	false	DELETE statements aren't replicated. Important: Setting delete_tracking to false results in non-convergence, and deleted rows need to be manually removed.
description		Descriptive entry for the article.
destination_owner		Name of the owner of the object in the subscription database, if not dbo.
identity_range		bigint that specifies the range size to use when assigning new identity values if the article has identityrangemanagementoption set to auto or auto_identity_range set to true. Applies to a table article only. For more information, see the "Merge Replication" section of Replicate Identity Columns.
identityrangemanagementoption	manual	Disables automatic identity range management. Marks identity columns using NOT FOR REPLICATION to enable manual identity range handling. For more information, see Replicate Identity Columns.
	none	Disables all identity range management.
logical_record_level_conflict_detection	true	A conflict is detected if changes are made anywhere in the logical record. Requires that logical_record_level_conflict_resolution is set to true.
	false	Default conflict detection is used as specified by column_tracking.
logical_record_level_conflict_resolution	true	Entire winning logical record overwrites the losing logical record.
	false	Winning rows aren't constrained to the logical record.
partition_options	0	The filtering for the article either is static or doesn't yield a unique subset of data for each partition, that is, an "overlapping" partition.
	1	The partitions are overlapping, and DML updates made at the Subscriber can't change the partition to which a row belongs.
	2	The filtering for the article yields non-overlapping partitions, but multiple Subscribers can receive the same partition.
	3	The filtering for the article yields non-overlapping partitions that are unique for each subscription. Note: If you specify a value of 3 for partition_options, there can be only a single subscription for each partition of data in that article. If a second subscription is created, in which the filtering criterion of the new subscription resolves to the same partition as the existing subscription, the existing subscription is dropped.
pre_creation_command	none	If the table already exists at the Subscriber, no action is taken.
	delete	Issues a delete based on the WHERE clause in the subset filter.
	drop	Drops the table before re-creating it.
	truncate	Truncates the destination table.
processing_order		int that indicates the processing order of articles in a merge publication.
pub_identity_range		bigint that specifies the range size allocated to a Subscriber with a server subscription if the article has identityrangemanagementoption set to auto or auto_identity_range set to true. This identity range is reserved for a republishing Subscriber to allocate to its own Subscribers. Applies to a table article only. For more information, see the "Merge Replication" section of Replicate Identity Columns.
published_in_tran_pub	true	Article is also published in a transactional publication.
	false	Article isn't also published in a transactional publication.
resolver_info		Is used to specify additional information required by a custom resolver. Some of the Microsoft Resolvers require a column provided as input to the resolver. resolver_info is nvarchar(255), with a default of NULL. For more information, see Advanced Merge Replication Conflict - COM-Based Resolvers.
schema_option (bitmap)		For more information, see the Remarks section.
	0x00	Disables scripting by the Snapshot Agent and uses the script provided in creation_script.
	0x01	Generates the object creation script (CREATE TABLE, CREATE PROCEDURE, and so on).
	0x10	Generates a corresponding clustered index.
	0x20	Converts user-defined data types to base data types at the Subscriber. This option can't be used when there's a CHECK or DEFAULT constraint on a user-defined type (UDT) column, if a UDT column is part of the primary key, or if a computed column references a UDT column.
	0x40	Generates corresponding nonclustered indexes.
	0x80	Includes declared referential integrity on the primary keys.
	0x100	Replicates user triggers on a table article, if defined.
	0x200	Replicates FOREIGN KEY constraints. If the referenced table isn't part of a publication, all FOREIGN KEY constraints on a published table aren't replicated.
	0x400	Replicates CHECK constraints.
	0x800	Replicates defaults.
	0x1000	Replicates column-level collation.
	0x2000	Replicates extended properties associated with the published article source object.
	0x4000	Replicates unique keys if defined on a table article.
	0x8000	Generates ALTER TABLE statements when scripting constraints.
	0x10000	Replicates CHECK constraints as NOT FOR REPLICATION so that the constraints aren't enforced during synchronization.
	0x20000	Replicates FOREIGN KEY constraints as NOT FOR REPLICATION so that the constraints aren't enforced during synchronization.
	0x40000	Replicates filegroups associated with a partitioned table or index.
	0x80000	Replicates the partition scheme for a partitioned table.
	0x100000	Replicates the partition scheme for a partitioned index.
	0x200000	Replicates table statistics.
	0x400000	Replicates default Bindings
	0x800000	Replicates rule Bindings
	0x1000000	Replicates the full-text index
	0x2000000	XML schema collections bound to xml columns aren't replicated.
	0x4000000	Replicates indexes on xml columns.
	0x8000000	Create any schemas not already present on the subscriber.
	0x10000000	Converts xml columns to ntext on the Subscriber.
	0x20000000	Converts large object data types (nvarchar(max), varchar(max), and varbinary(max)) that were introduced in SQL Server 2005 (9.x) to data types that are supported on SQL Server 2000 (8.x).
	0x40000000	Replicate permissions.
	0x80000000	Attempt to drop dependencies to any objects that aren't part of the publication.
	0x100000000	Use this option to replicate the FILESTREAM attribute, if it's specified on varbinary(max) columns. Don't specify this option if you're replicating tables to SQL Server 2005 (9.x) Subscribers. Replicating tables that have FILESTREAM columns to SQL Server 2000 (8.x) Subscribers isn't supported, regardless of how this schema option is set. See related option 0x800000000.
	0x200000000	Converts date and time data types (date, time, datetimeoffset, and datetime2) that are introduced in SQL Server 2008 (10.0.x) to data types that are supported on earlier versions of SQL Server.
	0x400000000	Replicates the compression option for data and indexes. For more information, see Data compression.
	0x800000000	Set this option to store FILESTREAM data on its own filegroup at the Subscriber. If this option isn't set, FILESTREAM data is stored on the default filegroup. Replication doesn't create filegroups; therefore, if you set this option, you must create the filegroup before you apply the snapshot at the Subscriber. For more information about how to create objects before you apply the snapshot, see Execute Scripts Before and After the Snapshot Is Applied. See related option 0x100000000.
	0x1000000000	Converts common language runtime (CLR) user-defined types (UDTs) to varbinary(max) so that columns of type UDT can be replicated to Subscribers that are running SQL Server 2005 (9.x).
	0x2000000000	Converts the hierarchyid data type to varbinary(max) so that columns of type hierarchyid can be replicated to Subscribers that are running SQL Server 2005 (9.x). For more information about how to use hierarchyid columns in replicated tables, see hierarchyid data type method reference.
	0x4000000000	Replicates any filtered indexes on the table. For more information about filtered indexes, see Create filtered indexes.
	0x8000000000	Converts the geography and geometry data types to varbinary(max) so that columns of these types can be replicated to Subscribers that are running SQL Server 2005 (9.x).
	0x10000000000	Replicates indexes on columns of type geography and geometry.
	NULL	System autogenerates a valid schema option for the article.
status	active	Initial processing script to publish the table is run.
	unsynced	The initial processing script to publish the table is run the next time the Snapshot Agent runs.
stream_blob_columns	true	A data stream optimization is used when replicating binary large object columns. However, certain merge replication functionalities, such as logical records, can still prevent the stream optimization from being used. stream_blob_columns is set to true when FILESTREAM is enabled. This allows replication of FILESTREAM data to perform optimally and reduce memory utilization. To force FILESTREAM table articles to not use blob streaming, set stream_blob_columns to false. Important: Enabling this memory optimization might hurt the performance of the Merge Agent during synchronization. This option should only be used when replicating columns that contain megabytes of data.
	false	The optimization isn't used when replicating binary large object columns.
subscriber_upload_options	0	No restrictions on updates made at a Subscriber with a client subscription; changes are uploaded to the Publisher. Changing this property might require that existing Subscribers be reinitialized.
	1	Changes are allowed at a Subscriber with a client subscription, but they aren't uploaded to the Publisher.
	2	Changes aren't allowed at a Subscriber with a client subscription.
subset_filterclause		WHERE clause specifying the horizontal filtering. Applies only to a table article. Important: For performance reasons, we recommended that you don't apply functions to column names in parameterized row filter clauses, such as LEFT([MyColumn]) = SUSER_SNAME(). If you use HOST_NAME in a filter clause and override the HOST_NAME value, you might have to convert data types by using CONVERT. For more information about best practices for this case, see the section "Overriding the HOST_NAME() Value" in Parameterized Filters - Parameterized Row Filters.
threshold		Percentage value used for Subscribers running SQL Server Compact or earlier versions of SQL Server. threshold controls when the Merge Agent assigns a new identity range. When the percentage of values specified in threshold is used, the Merge Agent creates a new identity range. Used when identityrangemanagementoption is set to auto or auto_identity_range is set to true. Applies to a table article only. For more information, see the "Merge Replication" section of Replicate Identity Columns.
verify_resolver_signature	1	Digital signature on a custom resolver is verified to determine if it's from a trusted source.
	0	Digital signature on a custom resolver isn't verified to determine if it's from a trusted source.
NULL (default)		Returns the list of supported values for @property.

[ @force_invalidate_snapshot = ] force_invalidate_snapshot

Acknowledges that the action taken by this stored procedure might invalidate an existing snapshot. @force_invalidate_snapshot is bit, with a default of 0.

• 0 specifies that changes to the merge article don't cause the snapshot to be invalid. If the stored procedure detects that the change does require a new snapshot, an error occurs and no changes are made.

• 1 means that changes to the merge article might cause the snapshot to be invalid, and if there are existing subscriptions that would require a new snapshot, gives permission for the existing snapshot to be marked as obsolete and a new snapshot generated.

See the Remarks section for the properties that, when changed, require the generation of a new snapshot.

[ @force_reinit_subscription = ] force_reinit_subscription

Acknowledges that the action taken by this stored procedure might require existing subscriptions to be reinitialized. @force_reinit_subscription is bit, with a default of 0.

• 0 specifies that changes to the merge article don't cause the subscription to be reinitialized. If the stored procedure detects that the change would require existing subscriptions to be reinitialized, an error occurs and no changes are made.

• 1 means that changes to the merge article cause existing subscriptions to be reinitialized, and gives permission for the subscription reinitialization to occur.

See the Remarks section for the properties that, when changed, require that all existing subscriptions be reinitialized.

Return code values

0 (success) or 1 (failure).

Remarks

sp_changemergearticle is used in merge replication.

Because sp_changemergearticle is used to change article properties that were initially specified by using sp_addmergearticle, refer to sp_addmergearticle for more information about these properties.

Changing the following properties requires that a new snapshot is generated, and you must specify a value of 1 for the @force_invalidate_snapshot parameter:

• check_permissions
• column_tracking
• destination_owner
• pre_creation_command
• schema_options
• subset_filterclause

Changing the following properties requires that existing subscriptions is reinitialized, and you must specify a value of 1 for the @force_reinit_subscription parameter:

• check_permissions
• column_tracking
• destination_owner
• pre_creation_command
• identityrangemanagementoption
• subscriber_upload_options
• subset_filterclause
• creation_script
• schema_option
• logical_record_level_conflict_detection
• logical_record_level_conflict_resolution

When you specify a value of 3 for partition_options, metadata is cleaned up whenever the Merge Agent runs and the partitioned snapshot expires more quickly. When using this option, you should consider enabling subscriber requested partitioned snapshot. For more information, see Create a Snapshot for a Merge Publication with Parameterized Filters.

When setting the column_tracking property, if the table is already published in other merge publications, the column tracking must be the same as the value being used by existing articles based on this table. This parameter is specific to table articles only.

If multiple publications publish articles based on the same underlying table, changing the delete_tracking property or the compensate_for_errors property for one article causes the same change to be made to the other articles that are based on the same table.

If the Publisher login/user account used by the merge process doesn't have the correct table permissions, the invalid changes are logged as conflicts.

When you change the value of schema_option, the system doesn't perform a bitwise update. This means that when you set schema_option using sp_changemergearticle, existing bit settings might be turned off. To retain the existing settings, you should perform & (Bitwise AND) between the value that you're setting and the current value of schema_option, which can be determined by executing sp_helpmergearticle.

Caution

When you many (perhaps hundreds) of articles in a publication and you execute sp_changemergearticle for one of the articles, it might take a long time to finish execution.

Valid schema option table

The following table describes the allowed schema_option values, depending on article type.

Article type	Schema option values
func schema only	0x01 and 0x2000
indexed view schema only	0x01, 0x040, 0x0100, 0x2000, 0x40000, 0x1000000, and 0x200000
proc schema only	0x01 and 0x2000
table	All options.
view schema only	0x01, 0x040, 0x0100, 0x2000, 0x40000, 0x1000000, and 0x200000

Examples

DECLARE @publication AS sysname;
DECLARE @article AS sysname;
SET @publication = N'AdvWorksSalesOrdersMerge';
SET @article = N'SalesOrderHeader';

-- Enable column-level conflict tracking.
-- Changing this property requires that existing subscriptions
-- be reinitialized and that a new snapshot be generated.
USE [AdventureWorks2022]
EXEC sp_changemergearticle 
  @publication = @publication,
  @article = @article, 
  @property = N'column_tracking', 
  @value = N'true',
  @force_invalidate_snapshot = 1,
  @force_reinit_subscription = 1;
GO

Permissions

Only members of the sysadmin fixed server role or db_owner fixed database role can execute sp_changemergearticle.

Related content

• View and Modify Article Properties
• Change Publication and Article Properties
• sp_addmergearticle (Transact-SQL)
• sp_dropmergearticle (Transact-SQL)
• sp_helpmergearticle (Transact-SQL)
• Replication stored procedures (Transact-SQL)